Last year was an exciting year for Austin-made films at the Sundance Film Festival. Nine feature films and three shorts were made by Texans, with nine of the twelve being shot in Austin or directed by Austin-based filmmakers. Though this year's Sundance lineup has a lighter Texas load, there are still a number of films with Austin ties to keep an eye on.
Boyhood — Announced as part of the Sundance lineup at the last minute, this Richard Linklater film, shot over a twelve year period, stars Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Lorelei Linklater (the director's daughter) and Ellar Salmon. Shot in and around Austin every year since 2002, this innovative film, which was and still remains somewhat shrouded in secrecy, follows the story of a divorced family and the "emotional and transcendent journey of childhood to adulthood."
Hellion — The feature version of Austin director Kat Candler's 2012 Sundance short of the same name, this highly anticipated drama stars Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad fame, Juliette Lewis, Josh Wiggins, Deke Garner and beloved Austin-based actor and producer Jonny Mars, who starred in the original short. Hellion follows the story of two wayward young brothers, Jacob (Wiggins) and Wes (Garner), and their relationship with their distant and grieving father (Paul). Child Protective Services sends Jacob to stay with his aunt (Lewis) and his brother and father must come up with a plan to bring him home. This gritty feature is already being hailed for its powerful performances and haunting Texas landscape.
Ping Pong Summer — Written and directed by Michael Tully, a recent Austin transplant and husband of Austin Film Society director Holly Herrick, this film, set in 1985, follows the story of Rad Miracle, a "shy, 13-year-old white kid obsessed with two things: Ping-Pong and hip-hop." This coming-of-age story features a diverse cast including Susan Sarandon, Lea Thompson, Amy Sedaris and Robert Longstreet.
No No: A Dockumentary —This documentary about pitcher and LSD-lover Dock Ellis features an array of Austin talent including first-time director Jeffrey Radice, filmmaker and Austin Film Society board member Mike Blizzard and filmmaker Sam Douglas. Promising to be an entertaining and heartwarming doc, No No tells the story of the man known for pitching a no-hitter while high on acid.
Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter — Directed by Austin filmmakers (and Sundance alumni) David and Nathan Zellner, this character study follows the story of Kumiko, an oddball whose incessant watching of one American film on VHS causes her to head from Japan to Minnesota in search of non-existent buried treasure.
Rat Pack Rat- This short by Austin transplant Todd Rohal tells the powerful story of a Sammy Davis Jr. impersonator who "hired to visit a loyal Rat Pack fan, finds himself performing the last rites at the boy's bedside." Rat Pack Rat also features the producing talents of Austin filmmaker Clay Liford and former Alamo Drafthouse persona Zach Carlson.
Richard Linklater's Boyhood was shot over a 12-year period.
Photo by Matt Lankes IFC Films
Richard Linklater's Boyhood was shot over a 12-year period.
Few people are strong enough to resist the lure of Girl Scout cookie season every year, with the cookies’ limited availability and unique flavors a strong incentive to indulge. But only the girls and their families who have sold the cookies know the joys and stresses of trying to get people to buy them, a process that is detailed in the new documentary, Cookie Queens.
The film by documentarian Alysa Nahmias uses the stories of four different girls to represent the nationwide ritual for the Girl Scouts. They include 12-year-old Olive in Charlotte, North Carolina, a longtime top seller; 8-year-old Shannon Elizabeth in El Paso, Texas, who wants to earn the reward of going to camp; 5-year-old Ara in San Diego, California, whose goal is modest compared to most other girls; and 9-year-old Nikki in Chino, California, who has to compete with her older sisters in the cookie-selling bonanza.
The girls represent a cross-section of both ages and backgrounds, with some girls coming from wealthy families and some girls dealing with more limited means. And how much money your family has makes a big difference, as not only does someone richer have more freedom with their time and supplies, but all scouts are required to reimburse the organization for every box they take in, regardless of whether they’re able to sell it or not.
That caveat makes the journeys of the four featured girls feel wildly different. It’s clear from the start that Olive and Nikki’s families don’t give a second thought to the personal economics of selling cookies, with each girl taking in thousands of boxes at the beginning of the six-week selling season. With both Olive and Nikki rightfully confident that they’ll have no problem offloading their supply, their stories turn to how selling is personally affecting them, with each trying to reconcile the fun of doing it with the pressure they feel from their family members.
Shannon Elizabeth’s story is more harrowing, as her parents feel a strong desire to help her accomplish her lofty goal, but worry that the cost might literally be too high for the family as a whole. More than once, the parents are shown fretting that they won’t have the money to pay back what they owe should they fall significantly short in their sales. Their selling approach, which includes walking through an empty swap meet and standing outside a chain restaurant at night, only adds to their stress.
The most fun story to watch is that of Ara, whose innocence is matched by her confidence. Her parents teach her how much money they’ll owe with her small goal of 55 boxes, but right away she takes on more responsibility than expected. She’s shown making sales pitches and tallying the total number of boxes she’s sold with little to no help from either her mom or dad. With her high voice, glasses, and a monitor on her arm to manage her diabetes, she becomes the cute and sympathetic part of the film.
There are times that the film starts to feel more than a little manipulative, however. While many of the moments documented come off as organic, some of them seem like Nahmias is actively guiding the participants in order to get a better story. This is especially evident with Shannon Elizabeth and her family, whose early struggles turn into a miraculous feel-good story by the end, a turnaround that seems implausible at best. Everything with them might have been aboveboard, but Nahmias and her team edit the family’s journey in a way that pushes a bit too hard for emotion.
Cookie Queens, which was produced by a company owned by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, helps to give insight into the business of selling Girl Scout cookies for those who’ve only been on the purchasing end of the transaction. The dedication of each girl toward selling their allotted supply proves fun and interesting, even if the filmmaker tries to gild the lily on occasion.
